Page 72 of Madness of Her Mages

Shiri

NIKKOS AND I ONLY HADa few moments to check on Ember and Aurora. We peeked in on them while they were eating lunch at their low table, using their spoons like perfect princesses. They couldn’t see me with their backs to me, but their new nursemaid looked up and gave me a reassuring smile before dabbing the side of Aurora’s cheek with a napkin. She seemed kind. Perhaps I’d judged her too harshly earlier. I didn’t want to disturb them since Malvolia was expecting me back in the courtyard to root out more demons, and I knew once the girls saw me, they wouldn’t want me to go.

I walked quickly down the hall, checking our suite of rooms for any signs of Drae and Blaze. When I saw none, I voiced my concern to Nikkos through thought.I’m worried the spymaster is asking them questions they don’t know how to answer.

My brothers can handle it.He squeezed my hand, giving me a reassuring smile.Let’s get going before we’re late.

We heard the fire mage army practicing their maneuvers before we saw them. The sky was filled with black wings and fire bursts, the heat radiating to the courtyard below, making me sweat beneath my white cloak, though I dared not take off my aunt’s gift. Not to mention, call it vanity, but I couldn’t deny a sense of pride in the status it represented—one of the two white witches in four centuries.

Malvolia was in the courtyard, along with dozens of her fire mages and a handful of very frightened Fae dressed in fineclothes, along with two little boys who couldn’t have been much older than my nieces. They both had big amber eyes, dark hair, warm complexions, and the cutest sets of black wings tucked tightly behind their backs. My stomach twisted when I saw the fear reflecting in the children’s eyes as they held their parents’ hands, their feathers shaking like leaves in a windstorm. They flinched every time the practicing fire mages overhead let out war cries, which was every few seconds.

Why are there children here?I projected to Nikkos.

Two of her emissaries, Lord and Lady Trudea, are bonded mates and have been blessed with children, he answered me.

“Hurry, Niece.” Malvolia waved me forward, an impatient look in her eyes. She held a black, leather umbrella over her head, which I realized was to shield herself from embers falling from the sky. Sadly, she didn’t offer the families gathered before us the same protection, or even better, ask the mages to practice their war games somewhere else.

I went to her, giving the children a sympathetic look. They reminded me too much of Ember and Aurora when they buried their faces in their mother’s skirts.

Malvolia pulled me under the protection of her umbrella, whispering loudly in my ear. “These are the emissaries who traveled to Windhaven a fortnight ago in an effort to convince Duke Viggo not to side with Fachnan.” She motioned toward the huddled Fae with a sneer. “I see now that was a wasted effort that only exposed my court to demons.”

“What will you do if the children are possessed?” I asked, my gaze flitting back to the children, worry gnawing a hole in my gut.

“Why?”

I wasn’t reassured by the indifference in her tone. “Will you kill them?”

Her eyes flared then narrowed. “You must really think me a monster.” She jutted a hand on her hip while clutching her umbrella in whitened knuckles. “I will lock them up so they’re not a threat, and then I’ll appeal to my green witches to find a way to expel their demons.”

“Will you do the same for their parents?” I remembered Bertram telling us we needed a tau stone to silence the demon and a vessel to expel it, whatever that meant.

I wasn’t reassured when she averted her gaze. “Let’s see if they’re possessed first.”

There were no words to express my relief when I used my siren’s call to beckon the demons to come forward and none of the gathered Fae moved. When Malvolia dismissed them without so much as an explanation or an apology, they hurried from the courtyard as if the hounds of hell were at their heels.

What a way for her to endear herself to her people,I projected to Nikkos as I went to him and stood beneath the protection of his outstretched wing right before embers rained down on us.

He didn’t flinch at the embers as he casually shook them off his wing.Yeah, she lacks finesse.His nervous laughter echoed in my skull.

Is that your nice way of saying she’s a raging bitch?

He shrugged.Something like that.

“Is there anyone else I need to question?” I asked my aunt while folding my arms across my chest.

“My general army,” she said with a smile while twirling her umbrella over her shoulder. “They will be assembled tomorrow.”

“And then?”

“And then we might scan the entire city if there’s time,” she drawled, her gaze wandering to a trio of shirtless fire mages who walked past us. None of them looked older than twenty. Shepursed her lips while they flexed their arms and shoulders, their muscles gleaming with sweat.

“If you would excuse me,” she said while running her tongue over her top lip. “I need to destress, and what better way to hold an audition for my summer lovers?”

She walked past the three mages, throwing them a hungry look. They elbowed each other and then followed after her like dogs begging for scraps.

I gave Nikkos a look, and he shrugged. “Maybe we should go destress.”

I shook my head. “Let’s go see if your brothers are back.”

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